Optimism that lawmakers will reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff sent the markers soaring during the midday with the Dow leaping 166 points to 12,754. Nasdaq surged 50 points to 2903.On the upside

Raymond James analyst Patrick O'Shaughnessy upgraded BGC Partners (Nasdaq: BGCP) to a Strong Buy rating.Fourth quarter earnings nearly doubled for Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to surpass analyst expectations.MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) director Steven Vincent Tesoriere acquired approximately $7.4 million worth of company stock over the past six months.On the downsideInvestors locked in profits on Acacia Research (Nasdaq: ACTG) whose stock price rose last week after announcing a $100 million stock repurchase plan.Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) will idle production at two iron ore operations and delay parts of its expansion plans at its Bloom Lake Mine in Quebec.Shares of Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) continued falling after warning of lower shipments in the third quarter.In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 13 points to 789.